Christie calls for 'the right balance' on gun rights

Chris Christie took a centrist tone on guns Wednesday, calling for the “right balance” between gun control and the Second Amendment.

“We’ve got to make sure we have public safety, but on the other hand we have to protect people’s rights both as sportsmen and hunters and for self protection too, find the right balance,” Christie told a group of New Hampshire voters at Chez Vachon in Manchester, according to New Jersey newspaper The Record.

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The comments came just over a week after news broke that the New Jersey Republican governor was not invited to address the NRA’s annual conference in Nashville last weekend. The other prominent GOP 2016 contenders were invited, with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul.

The NRA has long been skeptical of the Garden State governor, giving him a “C” grade before his reelection in 2013.

Christie did offer criticism of his state’s relatively tough gun laws — Guns & Ammo magazine called New Jersey the second worst state for gun owners in 2014.

The comments came during a tour of New Hampshire meant to assure Republicans that he should still be considered a viable 2016 contender despite poor showings in recent polls.

On Tuesday, Christie told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that his record of winning reelection in his deep blue home state with over 60 percent of the vote despite having “govern[ed] as a conservative for four years” should reassure voters that he would be a formidable candidate in the general election.

Christie named four states won twice by Obama that he believes he could put in play, then told Hewitt, “If I run, I will beat [Hillary Clinton].”